Willis Re Wins Analyst / Researcher of the Year Award for the Willis Research
Network

London, UK, September 08, 2009 – Willis Re, the reinsurance broking arm
of Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, won the 2009 Analyst
/ Research category at The Review Worldwide Reinsurance Awards held at the
Dorchester Hotel in London last week.

The award recognised the work of the Willis Research Network (WRN), the world's
largest collaboration between the scientific and insurance communities. The WRN sponsors
research posts at more than 20 leading universities, including Princeton, Kyoto, Cambridge and
Bologna, to further research into natural perils, climate change, the vulnerability of the
built environment and related systems, extreme statistics, financial risk, law and liability,
management and economics.

The award cited the WRN for “the most consistent objective analytical
work applied to the re/insurance industry.” The judging criteria include the highest quality
analytical research of a company or market sector, and the best contribution to
the intellectual base of the industry. The judges were particularly impressed by the
WRN's ethos of open and collaborative research, which encourages publication of all its
core research in both academic and industry arenas.

Commenting on the award, Rowan Douglas, Managing Director of Analytics for Willis
Re and Chairman of the Willis Research Network, said, “What sets the WRN
apart is the integration of leading scientists with the business community to develop
practical and useful outputs. This is great public recognition for our academic members,
clients and market partners, as well as for Willis Re colleagues worldwide. Our
thanks to all of them for making the first three years of the
WRN such a success. This award is further incentive for us to make
even greater progress in the years ahead.”

The Willis Research Network (WRN), funded by Willis Group Holdings, is
the world's largest partnership between academia and the insurance industry. Willis has teamed
up with more than 20 leading institutions across a full range of research
disciplines, from atmospheric science and climate statistics, to geography, hydrology and seismology, to
evaluate the impacts on the environment via engineering, exposure analysis and
Geographic Information Systems. Additional information can be found at www.willisresearchnetwork.com

Willis Group Holdings Limited is a leading global insurance broker, developing
and delivering professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource
consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world.
Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global
team of approximately 20,000 Associates serving clients in some 190 countries. Additional information
on Willis may be found at www.willis.com.